Theresa May's future as prime minister in doubt after disastrous conference speech

• Adam Becket
 

• 8h
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Theresa May drinks water during her conference speech as the slogan behind her has a malfunction. Phil Noble/Reuters

• Theresa May's future as prime minister is in serious doubt following her chaotic conference speech.
• May was reportedly left "extremely distraught" after being disrupted by a protester and then a coughing fit.
• A former Tory minister says "it's time to put ourselves out of the agony."

LONDON — Theresa May's future as prime minister is in doubt after her chaotic conference speech, with a number of Conservative MPs reportedly seeking to replace her as soon as possible.

The prime minister had aimed to stabilise her position in Downing Street with the keynote speech to close the Conservative conference but was disrupted by a series of mishaps which left her "extremely distraught," the Telegraph newspaper reported.

Prankster Simon Brodkin, more commonly known as Lee Nelson, handed her a fake P45midway through the speech before she suffered from coughing fits and almost lost her voice.

The stage set even began to fall apart before May had finished her address, with letters from the slogan "Building A Country That Works For Everyone" falling off, leaving it reading "Building A Country That Works Or Everyon."

The disastrous end to the Tory conference reignited the debate over the prime minister's future, with one Conservative MP telling the Times newspaper: "Yesterday I thought she was two crises from the exit, now it’s just one."

Backbench MP Mark Pritchard tweeted that a "small number" of his parliamentary colleagues were questioning May's future via texts. Pritchard told those "circling above" that "there is no vacancy at Number 10."

The Telegraph reported that up to 30 Tory MPs want to see May gone. At least 48 need to send letters to backbench 1922 Committee chairman Graham Brady before a leadership challenge can take place. 

Cabinet ministers including Michael Gove and Jeremy Hunt rallied around May, with the environment secretary saying that the prime minister was at the "top of her game."

However, a former Conservative minister told the Telegraph newspaper: "It's time to put ourselves out of the agony, the speech was excruciating to watch and as a result conversations are happening at a faster pace. People had wanted her to go by 2019 but now that could be much sooner.

"There is a concern that there isn't a real alternative for leader but on the other hand if we get this out of the way now we could have someone new by Christmas."

Veteran Tory MP John Redwood said: "I and many Conservative MPs like me are fully behind her and we are sorry for her that her voice went at the wrong moment.

"But we do not think it spoils the underlying message and the strong point she made to the party that it is our job to get on delivering a strong Brexit."

The fallout from the event left MPs blaming Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson for putting pressure on May with a series of Brexit interventions. Brodkin claimed "Boris asked me to give this [the P45] to you," when he invaded the stage.

The Conservative Party chairman, Sir Patrick McLoughlin, was also blamed for his part in allowing the series of mishaps to occur, with some sources suggesting that he could be pushed out of his position.

A Downing Street spokesperson admitted that the conference had "taken its toll" on the prime minister's voice, but some blamed her team for allowing her agenda to be so packed. May gave 28 interviews and made 19 appearances at events during the conference, despite her heavy cold which forced her to interrupt the speech.

The prime minister referenced her loss of voice in a tweet after the event:

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Theresa May 

✔@theresa_may

*coughs*

6:22 AM - Oct 4, 2017

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Labour's shadow cabinet office minister John Trickett said: "Conference season has shown us that the Conservatives are yesterday’s party; Labour is setting the agenda."

Liberal Democrat Leader Vince Cable said: "This was the speech of a brave Prime Minister struggling on, while her disloyal Cabinet colleagues openly plot against her."

NOW WATCH: Watch the moment Theresa May is handed a P45 by comedian Simon Brodkin

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Bank of England: Banks will start leaving if we don't get a Brexit transition deal by Christmas

• Will Martin
 

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• 734

London's financial hub Canary Wharf. Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

• Bank of England's Sam Woods says Britain and EU need to agree on transition deal before Christmas to avoid worst-case Brexit scenario of banks relocating.
• Banks need at least a year to set up new EU entities so could start executing Brexit contingencies at the start of 2018 if they do not receive clarity.
• Woods gave a speech in the City of London just as Goldman Sachs confirms it has leased a large new office space in German financial centre Frankfurt.

LONDON — One of the Bank of England's most senior staff in charge of banking regulation has warned that Britain and the EU need to make progress on a Brexit transition deal by Christmas or risk seeing banks and financial firms leave.

"I struggle to see an outcome in which banks and insurers do not get harder to supervise and harder to resolve for all involved," Sam Woods, the chief executive of the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), an arm of the BoE, said in a speech on Wednesday evening.

"If we get to Christmas and the negotiations have not reached any agreement on this topic, diminishing marginal returns will kick in. Firms would start discounting the likelihood of a transition in the central case of their planning," Woods told the audience at the City Banquet at Mansion House.

"Some form of transition or implementation period" is the "most important" outcome of Brexit discussions for the PRA, he said.

Concern over securing a transition deal is driven by the fact that banks need to make final decisions about moving staff by the first quarter of next year at the latest. Banks need at least a year, if not longer, to set up fully functioning branches and subsidiaries in Europe to maintain uninterrupted EU activities.

Without some clarity over future arrangements, banks will look to their worst case contingency plans, which are generally believed to involve large scale staff moves.

Goldman's Frankfurt 'contingency plan'

Goldman Sachs. Thomson Reuters

Woods' speech coincided with an announcement from Goldman Sachs late on Wednesday that it has taken new office space in the German financial centre of Frankfurt to prepare for Brexit.

"Goldman Sachs has signed a lease agreement for the upper floors of the Marienturm in Frankfurt, a new office tower currently under construction,” the bank said in a statement.

"This expanded office space will allow us to grow our operations in Germany to continue serving our clients, as well as provide us with the space to execute on our Brexit contingency plan as needed."

The added space means that Goldman will be able to increase the number of staff it has in the German capital from around 200 now to roughly 1,000. The bank currently employs around 6,500 people in the UK.

Goldman has been one of the most vocal banks lobbying British authorities for a long-term Brexit transitional deal that would allow financial firms time to adjust to the likely substantial changes in the regulatory framework.

Woods said the Bank of England is concerned about regulating two areas of the financial services sector — derivatives and information sharing. He told the audience of bankers and politicians:

"We are also engaging with financial institutions, trade bodies, the FCA and the government to unpick cross-sectoral problems. The two uppermost in our mind are the need to ensure that existing insurance and derivatives contracts can continue post-Brexit, and that data can be shared within groups across the UK/EU27 border."

Woods went on to say that it would be "messy and difficult for all firms to try to self-solve for these risks and I hope that we can find suitable fixes as the Brexit negotiations progress."

Woods' words came just a day after the Bank of England's Financial Policy Committee — of which Woods is a member — warned of the "significant risks" posed if the EU mandates that the clearing of derivatives and other financial instruments is moved out of London after Brexit.

Get the latest Goldman Sachs stock price here.

NOW WATCH: We talked to a UBS behavioral finance specialist about how emotions get the best of even the most experienced investors

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